12.6.2007

Recently, I was asked by Conservative Beach Girl to write about the current state of events here in Finland. Before I do that, please let me introduce myself briefly. I am a thirtysomething, an engineer and entrepreneur, father of a lovely baby boy and I live nearby Helsinki - the capital of Finland.

I've had my blog up and running for one year now, writings primarily circle around the issues of multiculturalism and immigration. Finnish name of this blog is "Laiva on täynnä", a rough translation being something like "Ship is full". I don't feel I have to explain allegorial meanings any further.

BACKGROUND

Because of its geographical location, Finland has been able to avoid some of the problems that Southern-European countries are struggling with today. Our coastlines are far away from Africa and Asia, we have no former colonies, nor do we have any unreconciled issues with anyone.

Year 1990, a significant event took place. An event that would start a new era in Finland. A group of Somalian people arrived here, seeking status of political refugees. It has been later said that Finland was totally unprepared for them. We did not know how long refugees would be here, we did not know whether we should teach them Finnish or not, we did not know anything. All we knew was that during the second world war, when Finland was itself engaged in times of trouble and under an attack by Russia, we sent our own children as refugees to Sweden. We were given help then, now it was our time to help others. Help those in need.

First somalis were given either a refugee status or a permit to stay. Others soon followed. To this day, there is a total of about 10.000 somalian-speaking people here. And of course many others from other crisis areas around the world - Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan etc.

IMMIGRANTS AND IMMIGRATION

Since a good proportion of the immigrants are refugees, they are having hard time to integrate into Finnish society. I admit that it is not an easy task. Finland is a modern, advanced country, undoubtedly sometimes very difficult for arrivals to comprehend. This is especially so, if the arrivals lack education and language skills. Many are illiterate.

But you cannot blame Finnish people for not trying. We have tried very hard to integrate our new immigrants. We have so many language courses, coordinators, projects and processes - aimed for immigrants to assist in integration. We had this idea of everything working out if we try really hard. It was rather childlike idea, too.

Current state of events isn't so terrific. Unemployment levels are astounding. One out of ten somalis work, and those who do, work mainly at public sector. Situation for Iraqis or Iranians is just as bad or worse. Crime rates are horrible.

There are many problems. How do we solve them?

By openness, discussions and education?

Or by manipulation, self-betrayal, censorship and discriminatory legislation?

You guessed correctly.

There is a very strange collective mental process "taking place" just now. Before Millenium, I had never heard or read anyone using the term "multiculturalism". But after the worst fears of Millenium Bug had been cleared, the faint voices chanting "multiculturalism", "diversity", "all different, all equal" became louder. Then, only human rights activists chanted those words. This day, they are being chanted by country's political elite, top media, church, everyone. Multiculturalism was put into a pedestal. And now it's there to stay.

The most convincing argument to support multiculturalism is that it "enriches our culture". No one seems to be able to explain what this means, but it seems that having diversity is a value of its own. If there were no different people who'd act differently, we would have no diversity. And if we do not have diversity, then things are not as well as they shold be. "Multiculturalism enriches" has become an axiom that few people dare to question.

And as we now celerate our newly-gained diversity, everything that is linked to multiculturalism or ethnic groups now has a silver lining.

Traditional protestant church no longer seems to separate Islam from Christianity. Priests have become bureaucrats who perform bureaucratic tasks. If there is any spirit left anymore, it has been hidden well.

Meanwhile, there are 30.000 muslims in Finland, half of them in Helsinki. Most are Sunni, a few thousand Shias as well. City has 8 mosques. Circa 1000 Finnish have converted to Islam. Majority of them are female. Islam has become - as they now say - a religion that cannot be ignored anymore.

And similarly the immigrants themselves have become a group that cannot be ignored anymore.

ARGUMENTS FAVORING IMMIGRATION

While it is painstakingly obvious that illiterate refugees cannot do very well in Finnish jobs, country's top politicians suggest opening recruitment stations into Africa. They also suggest ethnic quotas to private companies. Another very strange derivative of multiculturalism is that environmentalists want to increase immigration because otherwise our factories may run out of workers.

Often-heard argument for immigration is that because of the distorted population aging figures, we desperately need more medical staff to exchange diapers for the elderly (sic). An obvious way to overcome this difficulty would be to educate more nursing staff, a less obvious way would be to import diaper-changing people from the third world countries only to find out later that religious beliefs of the newcomers may forbid touching nonbelievers.

Perhaps the stupidest argument favoring immigration I've heard goes like this: immigrants do well with other immigrants. And immigrants need medical services too. So if we have foreign medical staff, they do better job at assisting foreign people than local ones. While this may actually be true, the person who came up with this idea had certainly forgotted about the orginal intentions of beneficial immigration.

It seems that many people want to increase immigration, but they really cannot say why they want that. So they come up with different arguments that may or may not be mutually coherent. Some want to oppose racism. Some just want to be good. Some want to get rid of the evils and wrongdoings of the world. Perhaps they view immigration as a tool for this.

ABOUT CENSORSHIP, MIKKO ELLILÄ AND MIKA ILLMAN

I suppose that, in general, most people want to be nice. They want to refrain from anything they consider evil. The worst thinkable thing is of course Hitler and his Nazi regime. It was based on racial discrimination - so racial discrimination must be the worst possible thing there is. I know this sounds a little naive, but to my opinion, this is the mindset of many people. Critisism regarding immigration in general is considered racism. Making generalizing statements about criminal behaviour about immigrant groups is harsh racism. Referring to 110-fold robbery rate of somalis is really not an argument against whether Finland should take in more somalis or not. It is not an argument because it is a racist statement.

A Finnish professor Tatu Vanhanenstudied possible correlations between IQ and wealth of nations. He was accused of ethnic agitation. Fortunately, police dropped the case but this did not save poor professor from being publicly humiliated.

During the cold war, Finland had dire straits with Soviet Union. Threat of invasion was always present. But no one ever said this aloud. People were afraid. Under the circumstances, media started to censor itself. During the following decades, the system of self-censorship became impenetrable. Big Brother was never openly criticised. Never. Soviet Union is long gone, but the same attitude persists. Only the target of this attitude has changed.

Just recently, we had this case of Mikko Ellilä who wrote a controversial text "Society Consists of People" (translation kindly provided to us by Aapo) and who is now facing an investigation by the police . It really had very little to do with Mr Ellilä's person or his claimed racism. This case was about nations legislator wanting to reduce the freedom of speech on the Internet. It was a case about legislator wanting to assign mandatory moderators for all internet discussion forums. It was a case about legislator wanting to illegalise criticism about immigration.

Please read the last sentence again.

Finland, while having most free press in the whole world, attempts to illegalise critic discussion about immigrants and immigration. State prosecutor Mika Illman:"Making a positive statement about Finns being better than others can be allowed, as long Finns are not compared to other groups."

and

"In a democratic country there must be a possibility to introduce strong criticism towards government and its policies. Issues relating to immigration are part of government’s policies. If criticism relates to immigrants as well, it is acceptable as long as the criticism is not said aloud."

There you have it. According to State prosecutor Mr. Illman, criticising immigrants - e.g. about high crime rate - turns critics themselves into a criminals. Why? Why on earth would anybody want that?

Mr Illman justifies his efforts by "protection of plural society". This is pure madness. How plural can a society be, if its foundations cannot be criticised out in the open?

Without the issue of immigration I would actually have been very happy with those results. Unfortunately, bad things took place because of that election. First of all, previous Minister of the Interior, Mr Kari Rajamäki had to step down. He was known for his Sarkozy-like opinions regarding immigration. A widely quoted example from him: "70% of refugee applications were without foundation." Public response was to arrange a demonstration against this "racist" minister and demand his resignation. A good man he was, but now powerless.

What did we get to replace him?

We got Mrs Astrid Thors. A good person. Only very good persons act as chair of Unicef Finland or Refugee Advisory Council. A direct quote from minister responsible of immigration issues (HS 6.5.2007 / page D4): "I wish we would stop always just investigating, whether an incoming person is a terrorist or not. We should give him a chance". She wants to increase the number of intaken refugees and allow residence permits for refugees relatives. According to Thors, the "ship should change it's course".

Just like her Swedish counterpart, Ms Nyamko Sabuni, Thors started to receive death threats because of her opinions. Maybe someone thought that Thors was - in a way - making threats to her own people. Threats received some media attention. As usual, journalists were quite eager to report about anything relating to proof of racist criminals. Too bad that all this time they have turned a blind eye to foreign racists residing in our country. If they looked more closely and unhooked themselves from their self-imposed gag order, they would come to understand that there is a growing number of crimes being committed here, and those crimes are done because of racial motives.

We have rape waves committed by ethnic groups. Gang rapes have been unheard of here. Well not anymore. Slashing achilles tendons of a rape victims to prevent them escaping. Fistulas. We have it all now.

We have immigrants who - after being introduced into professor's apartment - feel compelled to crush his skull, strangle him so that they can rob his liquor and tobacco. Farewell to Mr Kari Tikka. A family friend.

We have Ruandan baptist priest who claims refugee status. He turned out to be a mass murderer.

And we have a legislator who wants to make criminals out of those who say these things aloud.

It may very well be that immigration is a key for solving some of our current problems. But it may just as well be, that during the process we create a new set of problems. Unsolvable ones.

I am not against all immigration. But to my opinion, it is not possible to solve the problems of third world by importing the thirld world in here. Finland was not designed for that purpose. Finland was designed to be our home. And that's the way I want to keep it.

43 kommenttia:

Lot, thank you. I am printing your post and then, I'll write one and link to yours. So very true. Hard to believe but last year over 12,000 Americans were killed by illegals here in our nation either through vehicular homicides or "regular" murder. We have lost over 45,000 Americans killed here on our soil by illegal aliens since 9/11 and our government keeps the borders open to we don't even really know how many people, 50% of whom are from Indonesia and the Middle East. Many train with help of Hugo Chavez.

You find nice facts like: for every 1000 Iranians, 374 of them are suspected of a crime (page 213).

I must say that your argument is one of the oldest there is. It has the following structure: Finns commit crimes, so it's ok for foreigns to commit crimes also (feel free to change "men" in place of "Finns" if you like). Would you really accept that statement as a general rule?

The most convincing argument to support multiculturism it is that "enriches our culture". --> Sanajärjestys on ilmeisesti epähuomiossa hieman sotkeutunut, po. is that it"enriches our culture".

If there are no different people who'd act differently... --> minun kielitajuni mukaan tämän pitäisi olla ihan vain "If there are no different people who act differently...". Tai sitten "If there were no different people who'd act differently...". Englannin konditionaali on kyllä aina vähän hankala asia, enkä ehdi nyt tarkistaa sitä mistään kieliopista.

ARGUMENTS FAVORING IMMIGRATION, 1. kappale:

While it is painstakingly obvious that illiterate refugees cannot do very well in Finnish jobs, countries top politicians suggest... --> ...country's top politicians... Tai the country's.

3. kappale:

While this may actually be true, person who came up with this idea... --> the person who came up with this idea...

4. kappale:

It seems, that many people want to increase immigration... --> It seems that...

ABOUT CENSORSHIP, ETC., 1. kappale:

I suppose in general, that most people want to be nice. --> mielestäni paras olisi tällainen muotoilu: I suppose that, in general, most people want to be nice.

The worst thinkable thing is of course Hitler and his nazi regime. --> Nazi regime.

It was based on racial discrimination - so the racial discrimination must be the worst possible thing there is. --> - so racial discrimination must be...

3. kappale:

Big brother was never openly criticised. --> Big Brother

9. kappale:

Why in earth would anybody want that? --> Why on earth...

10. kappale:

How plural can a society, if its foundations cannot be criticised out in the open? --> How plural can a society be (...) criticized

MRS ASTRID THORS, 1. kappale:

"Worker-class" parties... --> "Working class" parties...

3. kappale:

What did we got to replace him? --> What did we get...

5. kappale:

Too bad, that all this time they have turned a blind eye... --> Too bad that all this time...

11. kappale:

It may very well be, that immigration... --> It may very well be that immigration...

12. kappale:

But to my opinion, it is not possible to solve the problems of third world... --> But in my opinion...

Finland - or Finland's economy, rather - has two alternatives: either accept more immigrants, perhaps around half a million within next ten years or so, or accept a much slower, probably even negative, economic growth.

This is not an opinion but an objective fact. Any possible increase in productivity just can't "replace" the baby-boomer workforce which will be retiring soon. Finland is, after all, already one of the most efficient economies on earth.

Because slowing economic growth down on purpose seems to be pretty alien, if not impossible, to the Finnish economic system the next best thing is to accept the inevitable - more immigrants - and make the best out of it. Why not enjoy the good things multiculturalism brings about. Like kebabs or avoiding those crappy jobs the immigrants do. And, hell, multiculturalism does make a society more innovative and appealing to the "creative class" and thus more competitive ... at least according to such fellows like Richard Florida

I must say that you guys are not helping with this inevitable project.

That is not to say that more constructive criticism is not needed. How to make the country more appealing to the highly educated (be they from Europe, China or wherever), how to "filter out" the assholes and how to make the immigrants feel at home. A lot of work is needed in all respects.

Refugees make just a tiny part of the whole. But yes, some of them do increase the kind of "positive diversity" you are apparently talking about. Like the Vietnamese who came here in the 70s. Unfortunately not all refugees are like them, though, but a majority nevertheless.

And having seen what was earlier, I have to say that I certainly enjoy the more cosmopolitan atmosphere of the present.

According to the same report by Ministry of Justice I just linked here, year 2005 there were 621 Vietnamese suspected of a crime. Please keep in mind that this was year 2005 alone. There is a total of 1657 Vietnamese people here. So it seems that approximately 37,5 % of them are suspected of a crime. On a single year.

I am tempted to say something witty about your comment: "Unfortunately not all refugees are like them, though, but a majority nevertheless". But I won't. I'll say something else instead.

I think we both agree that certain aspects of immigration are positive by almost all accounts. You enjoy the atmosphere, I enjoy some other things. We both seem to have some ideas about - hope you don't mind me borrowing your term - "filtering out the assholes".

Lying once is enough. Being caught on a lie once implicates that one is a liar. A refugee who lies while making applying for a refugee status, is a liar. As our previous Minister of the Interior, Mr Rajamäki pointed out, 70 % of incomers are like that.

It is not possible to construct Richard Floridian dream cities out of liars and cheats. If you import criminals and liars, you dont get a bohemian paradise. You get a human dumpster. A Malthusian nightmare.

You seem to be fatalistic about immigration issues. I find that a little bit odd. We really don't need to anything regarding nations demographics. No-one is forcing out hand to do anything. We have complete freedom to do whatever we will. There are other ways of attaining economic growth than importing illiterates. Many ways and much better ones.

Besides, alledged inevitability is really not a good argument about anything. Think it this way: we are all going to die. Should this fact prevent us from efforts of prolonging our lives as much as we could? Or should we just sit on our buttocs and wait for the inevitable?

We should also realize (but of course, we don't) that the profile of people immigrating to Finland is very different to that of e.g. the USA.

Generally speaking, in Finland salaries for educated people are low and the taxes are high. On the other hand, social security is relatively good. In the USA, taxes are low and opportunities to do well are there. If you fail badly or don't even attempt in the first place, you're basically screwed.

From this it's easy to see what kind of people wish to immigrate to which country: If you have an education and/or are willing to work hard -> USA. If not -> Finland.

Nice.

Furthermore, notice that education level and number of children have a high (negative) correlation. In Finland, the general population has a very low birth rate.

Then throw in the stuff from the original text (our great success in integrating immigrants to society etc).

With these assumptions, "solve" the hypothetical labor shortage by immigrants, wait 50, 100, 200 years and see what Finland looks like.

Have sex casinos? hindrance this young [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com]casino[/url] channel avoid and contain a stick up online casino games like slots, blackjack, roulette, baccarat and more at www.realcazinoz.com .you can also into our new [url=http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com]casino[/url] guide at http://freecasinogames2010.webs.com and realize temporal lolly ! another late-model [url=http://www.ttittancasino.com]casino spiele[/url] purlieus is www.ttittancasino.com , in carry back german gamblers, dub well-meaning online casino bonus.

all because of 21 and craving seeing that straits some grown-up toys? share in a tell up again nutty [url=http://www.avi.vg]sex toys [/url] online, fruitful club of grown-up toys like [url=http://www.avi.vg/category.php?a=shafting4sexx&cid=3]vibrators [/url] and [url=http://www.avi.vg/category.php?a=copulation4sexx&cid=30]dildos [/url]at www.avi.vg , allure to not from a to z the acquiesce, another spectacular venue to be furniture [url=http://www.ewgpresents.com]viagra online[/url] is the all kit http://www.ewgpresents.com and the unrivalled ed rx [url=http://www.rxpillsmd.net]online viagra[/url] more smoothly www.rxpillsmd.net , and the chief generic [url=http://www.generic4you.com]viagra[/url] drugstore at www.generic4you.com or at www.generik4u.com the [url=http://www.generik4u.com]sildenafil citrate[/url] shop.

Speaking of Multicultural Madness, God help you if you are a known conservative and moderate academic critic of Multiculturalism and then have to turn Finnish Chancelor of Justice as the result of a real scandal! The story that one investigative journalist tells on the page "Svenskfinland Granskas 2008-2010" is absolutely unbelievable! It's in Swedish, but if you read that language you are probably in for a shocker!

The links is:http://finlandsjannej.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/ledare-justitiekanslerns-agerande-gjorde-sockom-affaren-till-diplomatsak/

This Mikko Puumalainen seem to be very selective in his definition of what he considers to be Justice.

When ever I surf on web I never forget to visit this website[url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/lose-10-pounds-in-2-weeks-quick-weight-loss-tips].[/url]You have really contiributed very good info here laivaontaynna.blogspot.com. Do you pay attention towards your health?. Let me present you with one fact here. Recent Scientific Research presents that almost 50% of all United States adults are either obese or overweight[url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/lose-10-pounds-in-2-weeks-quick-weight-loss-tips].[/url] So if you're one of these citizens, you're not alone. In fact, most of us need to lose a few pounds once in a while to get sexy and perfect six pack abs. Now next question is how you can achive quick weight loss? Quick weight loss can be achived with little effort. Some improvement in of daily activity can help us in losing weight quickly.

About me: I am author of [url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/lose-10-pounds-in-2-weeks-quick-weight-loss-tips]Quick weight loss tips[/url]. I am also health expert who can help you lose weight quickly. If you do not want to go under hard training program than you may also try [url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/acai-berry-for-quick-weight-loss]Acai Berry[/url] or [url=http://www.weightrapidloss.com/colon-cleanse-for-weight-loss]Colon Cleansing[/url] for effective weight loss.

Generic Viagra (sildenafil citrate; brand names include: Aphrodil / Edegra / Erasmo / Penegra / Revatio / Supra / Zwagra) is an effective treatment for erectile dysfunction regardless of the cause or duration of the problem or the age of the patient.Sildenafil Citrate is the active ingredient used to treat erectile dysfunction (impotence) in men. It can help men who have erectile dysfunction get and sustain an erection when they are sexually excited.Generic Viagra is manufactured in accordance with World Health Organization standards and guidelines (WHO-GMP). Also you can find on our sites.Generic [url=http://viagra.gertantis.ru]legal buy viagra online[/url] is made with thorough reverse engineering for the sildenafil citrate molecule - a totally different process of making sildenafil and its reaction. That is why it takes effect in 15 minutes compared to other drugs which take 30-40 minutes to take effect.[b]Viagra The Factsis viagra for womenViagra Given To WomenHow To Get Viagra Without A Prescriptionlegitimate viagraViagra Wallpaperfree cialis[/b]Even in the most sexually liberated and self-satisfied of nations, many people still yearn to burn more, to feel ready for bedding no matter what the clock says and to desire their partner of 23 years as much as they did when their love was brand new. The market is saturated with books on how to revive a flagging libido or spice up monotonous sex, and sex therapists say “lack of desire” is one of the most common complaints they hear from patients, particularly women.

Do you guys watch movies in theater or on internet? I use to rent DVD movies from [b]Redbox.com[/b]. Recently I discovered that we can watch all new movies on internet on day, they are released. So why should I spend money on renting movies??? So, can you guys please tell me where I can [url=http://www.watchhotmoviesfree.com]watch latest movie Dinner for Schmucks 2010[/url] for free?? I have searched [url=http://www.watchhotmoviesfree.com]Youtube.com[/url], [url=http://www.watchhotmoviesfree.com]Dailymotion.com[/url], [url=http://www.watchhotmoviesfree.com]Megavideo.com[/url] but, Could not find a good working link. If you know any working link please share it with me.

klein brogel http://luxefashion.us/-casual-gucci-category30.html puma shoes limited editions [url=http://luxefashion.us/dolce-amp-gabbana-polo-shirt-for-men-sky--item2557.html]lauren zummo[/url] the service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashionhttp://luxefashion.us/scarfs-amp-hats-armani-category57.html wholesale shoes [url=http://luxefashion.us/brown-cream-men-color203.html]store in maryland called valu city fashion[/url]

lost your money at the [url=http://www.realcazinoz.com]casino[/url] ?over 21 and looking where to [url=http://www.generic4you.com]buy viagra online[/url]? or even how to buy [url=http://www.avi.vg]adult toys[/url]? well you can try this websites and [url=http://www.medical-250.biz]buy viagra[/url]. [url=http://www.generic4you.com]sildenafil[/url] and [url=http://www.generic4you.com]generic viagra[/url] online. you can also buy [url=http://www.generik4u.com]viagra[/url] online. so for [url=http://www.avi.vg]sex toys[/url] and [url=http://www.ewgpresents.com]viagra online[/url] check us ! for great [url=http://www.cahv.org]viagra[/url] deals check us now!